Dragon Front Beta - First look and instant thoughts

Dragon Front is a new card battle game announced during the Oculus Connect keynote. It is a beta, but is now in open beta. After finishing the keynote, I immediately got into the Oculus store and got it for my Gear VR.

These thoughts are based on the fact that this is beta software and that the Gear VR version will differ from the Rift Version. Final experiences may vary.

When I first got into the game, it had me select a username (krisguy – if you ever want to play), and I began 4 training games. Four FULL training games. I didn’t realize that there was an option to skip the other games until I was ready to start my fourth game. Oculus, I understand you want to show off each team’s cards, but there is no reason to have four full training games before going multiplayer.

The game plays very similarly to many CCG games, like Magic: The Gathering or Heroes of the Storm. It takes place on a 4x4 grid and has you sitting atop a valiant stronghold, with a trump card “general” sitting by your side. You earn mana at the beginning of each turn for each character on the board. You spend mana on bringing in solders and spells to try to destroy your opponents stronghold.

The game play itself is nothing new to experienced CCG players, but the fact it is in VR is amazing. The animation is incredible, When a card is played, it disappears into a poof of light and floats to the tile and summons your beast or soldier. When you destroy or get destroyed, mana orbs appear and float to your mana counter on the left side of the playfield. I feel that the animation was very well thought out, and did not feel repetitive on the 5 games I finished.

The multiplayer was actually very quick. I was running the game on my AT&T LTE connection, and my opponents’ turns seemed very quick compared to other online CCG games I have played in the past. I don’t know if my opponents were playing on a Rift or a Gear VR, but the announcement at the keynote stated the beta is cross-platform. I like that idea, since the mobile API isn’t that much different for a game of this type.

Overall, I would tell anyone to get in on the beta now and give Oculus feedback. The more they know, the easier it will be for you to stream your epic battles on Facebook (new feature coming to Oculus API). I’m a fan, and I bet that they will add more armies for pay when it gets out of beta.

As someone who is a recovering Magic the Gathering player and just received their 3 year coin, I have to say that this game is dangerous. Aside from Chronos I would say it is my favorite VR experience so far. You can start picking up on some pretty deep strategy if you play long enough, and the devs have done a very good job at making it fun even if you don't want to spend money on microtransactions. I was within 1 win of making the leader boards last time the boards reset, and I never spent a penny on the game. I highly recommend this game if you like strategy games.